Process of packaging.



. H. COALE.

PROCESS OF PACKAGING.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, 1910.

989,337, Patented-Apr.11,1911.

' shaver cosme- EOFBELTIMGIRE, mania satin, ASSIGNOR re, TJHEQCVROWN coimuhnn asse ses l f a citimore cit gfitate of 'Ma1'yland',.liave invented certain ne7- 1 and useful improvements in and the" accompanyihgl drawings; forming part or the same, t

This invention relates to an. improved processfotpackaging milkantl similar foods which are heated to destroy lrrarmhil bac- 'teria.

In packaging foods of *to heatin a suitable receptacle of such capacity as to contain a considerable quantity of milk, the temperature being raised to the required degree to destroy the bacteria. In. the treatment of milk, if it-Iis desired to avoid hreaking upthe fatty globules in the a milk, which'brealting upprerents the rising of the cream, the temperature to which the milkis raisetllis aboutl60 'In 'thus a packaging milk, after it is heated in the receptacle referred to, it is placed in bottles or jars which have been previoiisly sterilized. by hot Water or steam; the jars being then usua-lly'sealed by placing paper'seals over the mouths of the'gars, the seals being s ecured in place, it desired. by various means,

such as by covering the disk with a foil capsule. This. process is objectionable, because the milk is liable to take up harmful bac teria from the air during the transfer from the heating receptacle-to the bottles or jars;

and for the further reason that the bottles or jars, after the'niilk is placed in them, must thereon: Further, the milk inthe hottlesor be again handled to 'i'ilace the paper disks ]ar.s'is"not maintained ihrac'fio', so that there I is liability of contamination, particularly it.

as is usually "the-case, the, milk is not raised during processing to above about 160 F. Other food products,' such, for instance? as fruit and vegetables; ar processed in the jars or rece ptacles in'which they are 1harketed'; the jars'being' placed in a'vacuumiai-ng'freceptacle, the covers eitherbeing placed looselyon thejars and ftlienyforced into place afterprocess'ingaiid ahhileth ej ars are still in I the 'ir'aciiumizihg reassess-1+ the covers ai'e hel d ahove 'th yhe forced upon the "jars issue; still in the 9 SE L- iiOMPANEOElBALTIMOEE orry, ornranrmonn MARYLAum-a CORPQRATION er MARYLAND; raoensspr PAeKAGING.

uumizing receptacle. This process enables he contents of the ars to be sealed and maintained cacao after processii g', but'retiuires" considerable In'eclijanism for its practice,- unless the covers a re loosely placed on thejars" asreferred to, in which caselconsiderable ditliculty is experi-' enced in obtai'ninga ood seal. For these and other reasons thisp -ocess is not adapted for-thepackaging of'milk and similar product-s; Ithas also been proposed to process jars or similar receptacles containing food by securing specially made covers to them ditterent kinds, such, for instance, as milk, which is heated to destroy harmful"bacteria, it is customary which, of course, increases the pressure within thejar, causing the spring clips to yield-so that the air escapes from, the jar.

its the receptacles cool, the springs draw the covers down into place oh the mouth of the receptacle, thusclosing' the jars against the admission of air and maintaining the con-' .tents substantially in cacao. Covers of the character referred to as heretofore made,

have been expensive and are not adapted for use in connection with packaging nnlk or ot-hersi-milar products, especially where it is desirable, for sanitary reasons, that the covers he thnownaway.

The present Invention has for 1tS OlI)]6Ct the packaging of milk or other similar'food products to be heated to destroy theharmful bacteria bv placing the product in a suitable container,v such as a ar. applying thereto a sheet metal closure which 1s; inherently sufficiently flexible to yield to the. pressures -de\;eloped during heating and vwhich is locked to the jar 0y being'hent'into engage- ;nient therewith. asubstantial-ly nonresilient s aling gasket beingint'erposed between the ibpef the cap and the lipof the jar and being' forced against the lip of the jar by'the.

"operation of locking the cap thereto to form 7 a" substantially hermetic seal; and suhiccting herentflexibility of the closure permitting *it to yield sufficiently to allow the escape of 105 air, but hot sufiicientlyto break the lock by *Which it isattachecl. so-that the seal is auto- *iiiaticallyreestablished when the container and'its contents are cooled.

Asthe improvedp of packaging a view similar toIFigl biit bowing latio'nzof; the parts during the processing ,olperat-i'onfiFig'. Silliistrates the relation of t.

has its skirt provi in the pack'a ing operation.

may an be' described in connecti'oh' with drawingsflsho'w-ing a suitable.- container and closure for ,carrying the process into 'e'fiect, a sheet of drawings illustrating such'co'ntainer' and closure is made apart of this,

specification "Inthese drawingsFigure lillustrates', in sectional elevatioma containenand closure suitable -fo'r-t carrying the; invention into efi'eet the closure being locked place, this iview' illustrating the condition'ofthe parts prior to the processing operation; 2 is e part-s after-the processing operation; is

complet'ed, and the container and its contents are cooledi v .Fig. 4 illustrates, in pet-j pect-ive, a closure suitable for carrying the invention into eflect.,' w

Referring, to -'t-hese drawings, 1 indicatesasui table container for-j carry ng the inve'n- 'tion into eflect, the container illustrated be-: theordinary'. milk jar provided with a bead'or shoulder2 at its top, The container has applied thereto a closure consistin of a to B and a1skirt'4'. The particular c os'ure .s'e ected fgrcarryingthe invention: into effect ed with corrugations, as

5, the locking of the closure to the ar being effected by pressure applied to the corrugationwhich forces" the metal between them .into flocking engagement with the shoulder .fornied by therib or bead-.2. Y

vention into effect, whatever be'its form, will The closure employed for carrying the inbe made of sheet metal which can be stamped -to form, thereby securing the requisite gt he seal is originally established. It has sures made of this metal have suflicient rebeen found in practice .that sheet metal of the character known as taggers tin which has'a-thick'ness of about .0075 in. is well adapted for the manufacture of closures for carrying the invention into effect, as closiliency to yield in the manner referred to during the heating operation to pe it the escape of air and this without brea ing the' lock by which the seal is originally established. I form in other respects, will be constructed so as ;.toernbrace or cover the'mout-h of the jar, thus preventing bacterial contamination- Such closures, whatever be their of; the mouth of the jar after processin -and during transportation, Closures emp oyed for carrymgthe'invention 1nto effect will furth er-be provided with a gasket which is interposed between the mouth of the jar and the top of the closure, This gasket will, .be of substantially inelastic 'or' non-resilient material. It has been found in practice that adisk-of compressed paper coated with pa'r afiinis well adaptedfor' the purpose, such as shown in the drawing and marked 6. ,The; container employed infcarrying the invention into efi'ect should', to avoid waste 'dnring-tlieheatin operation, be provided, with a suitable in icatingma-rk, as 7." This mark should be so'related to the mouth'of the jaryt-hat after the jar is filled to said markQa-nd subjected to heat, the expansion of the contents, under the temperature em- .pl' yed, will be just v suflicie'nt to fill the jar leveljull'.

h carrying-the invention into 'eflI'ect,the, container is imark, if such mark is employed, and the clorst filled up to the indicating sure is" then applied to the mouth of the jar and locked thereto, the closure, during this operation, being forced :down' so strongly a .ainst-the mouth of the jar as to form a substantiallyhermetic seal. After this sealing operation the jar and its contents are subjected to heat: .applied in any suitable way. as by steam, or hot water. As the tem perature of the contents of the jar increases,

--the contents expand and the air contained in thejar between-the level of the contents and the under side of the gasket is compressed' After the heating has proceeded for a time, it will be found that the airis "escaping slowly'from the ar. If the heating be effected by submerging the j'ar'in hotwa- .ter the escape of the air may readily be noted by the bubbles which rise through the water from the top of the jar. If milk is being packaged, the temperature will ordinarily, as has beenpointed out, not be allowed to much exceed 160 F. but it will be found that the escape of air'begins considerably before this temperature is reached.-

W'hen. large closures are employe'd,such, for lnstance. as those of the size illustrated in the drawings, it has been foundfin'practical operation, tl1at tl1e top vof the cap be- .comesislightlv convex or'bulging. as in Fig, .2. 1n which the escape of air 15 indicated by the arrows. After. however, the heating operation is completed. and the container' and its contents allowed to cool, it 1s found that'the top of the closure becomes slightly concave. as indicated in NVhen closures of a smaller slze are employed-the variat ons 1n form-ofthe-top of the closure are not noticeable. In'any, case, however, it

will be found, provided the packaginghas been carried out in the manner..described, that. after cooling a substantial'.,vac11um ex ists Between the under side of the cap and resumed. their original. leve1.- I

A closure of the character referred to,

that is, one having corrugations in its skirt,

is regarded as particularly advantageous for the practice of the invention, for the reason ,that' these corrugations not only aflord a means .for securing a reliable seal, but also, inasmuch as'the metal which forms the outer -1'1bs of the corrugatlons stands away from the shoulder of ihe container, a numberof small channels are formed-which facilitate the escape of the air.- p

It will be understood that the process is not limited to the specific closure which has.

been heretofore described, though, as has been pointed out, this closure has produced in practice highly satisfactory results. This closure resembles in configuration the wellknown crown cork. characteristic which it possesses and which is not found in the crown cork is the inherent flexibility referred to which permits the cap to yield sufiiciently during the heating or processing operation to allow the escape of air from the receptacle; It may be remarked thatthe crown cork has. been largely em- ,ployed for sealing beer bottles which are processed in tanksof hot water. The crown cork,.however, requires to be sufficiently strong arid rigid 'so as not to permit any escapeof air .or gas from the beer or other bot les during the processingoperation, not-.

wit standing the factthatconsiderable ini-' in the bottles after processing byreason of the fermentation. 1

The process which-has been described is particularly applicable .to the packaging of milk and. similar-products on account of the celerity with which it may be carried out.

It will be observed that it is unnecessary to sterilize either the containers, closures or' gaskets prior to theplacing of the contents in the containers, as the harmful bacteria which may have accumulated on these parts will be'destroyed during theprocessingof A distinguishing.

v the contents of the containers. Further, the the top of the contents in the jar which have the operations incidentto its practice.

here .the process is carried out in the manner described, further, the purchaser of the milk can be certainthat the package has not been tampered with after sealing, asthe existence of the vacuum, which can be-readily determined, shows that the package has not been opened after havingbeen originally sealed.

What is claimed is The process of packaging milk or similar products which are to be heated to destroy harmful bacteria, consisting in filling the containerto such alevel that the contents during heating will substantially fill the container, applying thereto a.-l metal closure containing asubstantially non-elastic seal ing gasket and having a skirt which covers and protects the mouth ofthe container, so as to form with the mouth-of the container a substantially hermetic seal, saidclosure being inherently sufliciently flexible to yield to the pressure developed within the container by the heat employed to permit the escape of air from thecontainer and to reestablish the seal as thecontainer is cooled, subjecting the container thus sealed to heatwhereby the harmful bacteria are destroyed,

, the contents of the container arecaused to I expand and'the air is expelled, and then cooling the container.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence-of two subscribing witnesses.

- HARVEY COALE.

\Vitnesses HOWARD D AnAus, JAMES Q;.RICE. 

